The Austin Film Festival will run Oct. 26-Nov. 2 at various venues, with the conference running Oct. 26-29. The Austin Film Festival opens Oct. 26 with the Greta Gerwig-directed Lady Bird and closes Nov. 2 with I, Tonya, starring Margot Robbie as disgraced ice skater Tonya Harding, and Chappaquiddick, starring Jason Clarke as Ted Kennedy. Other prominent films include 24 Hours to Live with Ethan Hawke; Call Me By Your Name, starring Armie Hammer; The Current War, starring Benedict Cumberbatch; Darkest Hour, starring Gary Oldman; Permanent, starring Patricia Arquette; Please Stand By, starring Dakota Fanning; An Ordinary Man, starring Ben Kingsley; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, starring France McDormand; and The Upside, starring Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart. Retrospective screenings include The Warriors, presented by director Walter Hill; Predator, presented by co-star and The Predator director Shane Black; Raggedy Man, in honor of Sam Shepard; and The Seven-Ups. The Austin Film Festival will honor writer/director Walter Hill as the 2017 Extraordinary Contribution to Film Awardee; Keenen Ivory Wayans as the 2017 Extraordinary Contribution to Television Awardee; and Manchester by the Sea’s Kenneth Lonergan as the 2017 Distinguished Screenwriter. The conference will include a conversation with Hill, Wayans and Lonergan. There also will be conversations with Mankiller and The Walking Dead executive producer Gale Anne Hurd; Underground writer/producer Misha Green; Twin Peaks co-creator Mark Frost, Fargo and Legion creator Noah Hawley; Hollywood Shuffle writer/director Robert Townsend; and Logan screenwriter Scott Frank. The conference also will include panels on American Gods, American Psycho, Arrival, Blade Runner, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Pete’s Dragon. Shane Black will deliver the conference’s final remarks. Senior film program director Liz Mims (left), film competition director Harrison Glaser (center), and conference director Colin Hyer (right) discuss this year's Austin Film Festival.

Note:Since this interview, the Austin Film Festival has added Mudbound and Roman J. Israel, Esq. to the festival schedule and removed the Weinstein Co. releases The Current War and The Upside from the festival's schedule.